Jane Christina Flemming OAM (born 14 April 1965) is a former Australian Olympic

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete. She completed her HSC in 1982 at Mater Christi College, Belgrave. She was the 1990

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

champion at heptathlon and

long jump The long jump is a track and field event in which athletes combine speed, strength and agility in an attempt to leap as far as possible from a takeoff point. Along with the triple jump, the two events that measure jumping for distance as a ...

and also represented Australia internationally at

100 m hurdles The 100 metres hurdles, or 100-meter hurdles, is a track and field event run mainly by women (the male counterpart is the 110 metres hurdles). For the race, ten hurdles of a height of are placed along a straight course of . The first hurdle is ...

Athletics career

Flemming started her athletics career competing for the Fairpark Little Athletics Club at the Knox

Little Athletics Little Athletics is an Australian activity program that involves modified athletics events for children aged 3 to 16 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Northern Territory); 3 ...

Centre. In Australian National Championships, she won thirteen open titles at heptathlon (5), 100 m hurdles (5), 100 m (2) and 100 y (1) events. She was named the Australian female athlete of the year in 1993. A two-time Olympian, she also competed at the 1986, 1990 and

1994 Commonwealth Games The 1994 Commonwealth Games (French: ''XVéme Jeux du Commonwealth'') were held in Victoria, British Columbia, from 18 to 28 August 1994. Ten types of sports were featured at the Victoria Games: athletics, aquatics, badminton, boxing, cycling ...

. Her highest score in the heptathlon - 6695 points - set winning the 1990 Commonwealth gold medal still stands as the Australian and Commonwealth Games record at February 2016. Flemming's individual performances during this competition were: * 100 m hurdles - 13.21 (+1.4 m/s) * high jump - 1.82 m * shot put - 13.76 m * 200 m - 23.62 (+2.4 m/s) *

- 6.57 m (+1.6 m/s) *

javelin throw The javelin throw is a track and field event where the javelin, a spear about in length, is thrown. The javelin thrower gains momentum by running within a predetermined area. Javelin throwing is an event of both the men's decathlon and the wom ...

- 49.28 m * 800 m - 2:12.53 In

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, Flemming also won the long jump gold medal, with a career best of 6.78 m. Her best performance at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a vari ...

was 7th in Seoul 1988. Flemming also placed 7th at the 1993 World Athletics Championships. At the Ulster Games in Belfast on 30 June 1986 Flemming, on request of Australian team manager Maurie Plant, infamously provided a urine sample to allow another athlete,

Sue Howland } Sue Howland (born 4 September 1960) is an Australian javelin thrower whose best result was a gold medal at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Howland won the Australian Junior (under 20) Javelin throw in 1977 and 1978. Her international career beg ...

, to use Flemming's urine pass a drug test. The Australian Senate report into drugs in sport (known as the "Black" report after Senator John Black) later gave Jane Flemming an official warning, and also banned Maurie Plant from managing any athletes in the future.Australian Parliament Senate Committee
"Jane Flemming asked to provide a substitute urine sample for Sue Howland"
''The Black Report page 22'', May 1989

Post-athletics career

After retiring from international competition, Flemming has worked as an athletics commentator in Australia for the

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by Seven West Media Limited, and is one of five main free-to-air television networks in Australia ...

and

SBS Television The Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is an Australian hybrid-funded public service broadcaster. About 80 percent of funding for the company is derived from the Australian Government. SBS operates six TV channels ( SBS, SBS Viceland, SBS Wor ...

. She has also represented British Olympic legends Sebastian Coe & Daley Thompson, USA legend Michael Johnson and other athletes as a business manager, working in both Australia and

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It i ...

. In 2006, Flemming was a commentator on Nine Network's coverage of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and also appeared on a celebrity special of ''

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

''. Awarded the Order of Australia on 26 January 2014 for services to athletics and to the community. in 2013, Flemming helped Live Life Get Active, a private social initiative that offers free health, fitness and nutritional education online and in local parks around Australia with the help of local governments and corporations. Flemming is married to Ian Purchas and has twin boys, Jimmy & Sammy.

References

External links

Jane Flemming
at Australian Athletics Historical Results *

''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 4 June 2004
'Is this Seb's new running mate?'
Sunday Mirror - 8 December 2002
Mum in Profile: Jane Flemming
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flemming, Jane 1965 births Living people Australian television presenters Australian women television presenters Australian female hurdlers Australian heptathletes Olympic athletes of Australia Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games gold medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Australia Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1994 Commonwealth Games World Athletics Championships athletes for Australia Australian Institute of Sport track and field athletes Doping cases in Australian track and field Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade bronze medalists for Australia Medalists at the 1989 Summer Universiade Medallists at the 1986 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1990 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1994 Commonwealth Games